MS 

J$          THE    SUPPLIES 


CONFEDERATE  AEMY 


HOW  THEY  WERE   OBTAINED   IN   EUROPE 
AND   HOW   PAID   FOR 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES   AND 
UNPUBLISHED  HISTORY 


CALEB    HTJRE 

MAJOR  AND  PURCHASING  AOKNT,  C.  S   A. 


BOSTON 

PRESS   OF  T.  R.  MARVIN  &   SON 
1904 


I  •       •  •  •• 


DEAR  SIR  :  — 

IN  the  Summer  of  1903,  two  friends  of  Major  Huse  were  hos 
pitably  entertained  by  him  at  his  charming  home,  "  The  Rocks," 
on  the  Hudson,  just  south  of  West  Point,  and,  during  their  visit, 
were  greatly  interested  in  listening  to  his  recital  of  some  of  his 
experiences  as  agent  in  Europe  for  purchasing  army  supplies  for 
the  Confederate  States  during  the  Civil  war. 

I  was  so  impressed  by  this  unique  bit  of  history  that  I  suc 
ceeded,  after  much  urging,  in  inducing  him  to  write  it,  believing 
that  it  should  be  preserved,  and  knowing  that  no  one  else  could 
furnish  it. 

His  four  years'  experience  would,  if  fully  told,  fill  a  large 
volume,  but  this  brief  recital  is  all  that  can  be  hoped  for. 

I  am  sending  you  herewith  a  copy  of  this  pamphlet.  If  you 
wish  to  keep  it,  please  send  25  cents  in  enclosed  coin  card.  If 
you  do  not  want  it,  please  return  it  flat  by  pasting  the  enclosed 
stamped  and  addressed  envelope  on  the  enclosing  envelope. 

x 

Yours  truly, 

J.  S.  ROGERS. 
Room  118,  Barristers  Hall, 

15  Pemberton  Square, 

Boston,  Mass. 


THE    SUPPLIES 


FOB  THE 


CONFEDEEATE  ARMY 


HOW  THEY  WERE   OBTAINED  IN   EUROPE 
AND   HOW   PAID   FOR 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  AND 
UNPUBLISHED  HISTORY 


BY 

CALEB 

MAJOR  AND  PURCHASING  AGENT,  c.  S.  A. 


BOSTON 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MARVIN  &  SON 
1904 


H$ 


COPYRIGHT,  1904 

BY  JAMES  S.  ROGERS 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


IN  the  Summer  of  1903,  two  friends  of  Major  Huse  were  hos 
pitably  entertained  by  him  at  his  charming  home,  "  The  Rocks," 
on  the  Hudson,  just  south  of  West  Point,  and,  during  their  visit, 
were  greatly  interested  in  listening  to  his  recital  of  some  of  his 
experiences  as  agent  in  Europe  for  purchasing  army  supplies  for 
the  Confederate  States  during  the  Civil  war. 

So  impressed  were  they  by  this  unique  bit  of  history  that  they 
succeeded,  after  much  urging,  in  inducing  him  to  write  it,  believ 
ing  that  it  should  be  preserved,  and  knowing  that  no  one  else 
could  furnish  it. 

His  four  years'  experience  would,  if  fully  told,  fill  a  large 
volume,  but  this  brief  recital  is  all  that  can  be  hoped  for. 

If  the  cost  of  publication  is  not  met  by  the  nominal  price 
charged  for  this  pamphlet,  the  satisfaction  of  preserving  the  record 
in  print  will  compensate  for  any  loss  sustained  by  the 

Two  FRIENDS. 
August,  1904. 


M139473 


REMINISCENCES 


N  my  return  in  May,  1860,  from  a  six  months' 
leave  of  absence  spent  in  Europe,  I  found  an 
appointment  as  professor  of  chemistr}^  and  com 
mandant  of  cadets  in  the  University  of  Ala 
bama  awaiting  my  acceptance.  During  my 
absence  the  President  of  the  University  and  a 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  visited 
West  Point  and  the  Virginia  Military  Institute 
and,  pleased  with  the  discipline  of  both  institu 
tions,  decided  to  adopt  the  military  system,  and  applied  to 
Colonel  Delafield,  then  the  Superintendent  at  West  Point,  for 
an  officer  to  start  them.  Col.  Delafield  gave  them  my  name 
but  was  unable  to  say  whether  or  not  I  would  resign  from 
the  army.  I  was  then  a  first  lieutenant  of  artillery ;  and,  as 
such,  was  on  the  rolls  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Sumter. 

I  accepted  the  position  and  began  my  duties  in  September. 
My  leave  of  absence  had  expired  in  May ;  but  the  authorities 
of  the  University,  fearing  that  I  might  regret  severing  irrev 
ocably  my  connection  with  the  army  —  which  I  had  entered 
as  a  cadet  at  sixteen  —  obtained  from  the  Secretary  of  War 
an  extension  of  the  leave  till  May,  1861,  when  I  was  to 
resign  if  all  was  satisfactory  at  that  time. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  here  that  the  introduction  of  mili 
tary  drill  and  discipline  at  the  State  University  had  no  con 
nection  whatever  with  any  secession  movement  in  Alabama, 
and  the  fact  that  a  Massachusetts-born  man  and  of  Puritan 


6 


descent  was  selected  to  inaugurate  the  system,  will,  or  ought 
to  be,  accepted  as  confirmatory  of  this  assertion. 

Discipline  was  almost  at  an  end  at  the  University,  and  in 
seeking  ways  and  means  for  restoring  it,  the  attention  of  the 
Faculty  and  Trustees  was  directed  to  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute  which  had  been  in  successful  operation  for  about 
fifty  years.  As  this  institution  had  been  organized  by  a  grad 
uate  of  West  Point,  and  in  some  respects  resembled  the 
United  States  Military  Academy,  it  was  hoped  that  in  Ala 
bama  good  results  might  be  secured  by  the  adoption  of  similar 
methods. 

Military  drill  is  taught  at  the  present  time  in  many  schools 
and  colleges,  but  the  intention  of  the  Alabama  University 
authorities  was  not  merely  to  drill  students,  but  to  hold  them 
under  military  restraint,  as  is  effectually  done  at  West  Point, 
and,  I  may  add,  as  cannot  be  done  in  any  college  designed  to 
qualify  young  men  to  become  civilian  members  of  a  great 
republic. 

West  Point  and  Annapolis  have  proved  themselves  noble 
institutions  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed  — 
that  of  training  young  men  to  become  officers  over  other  men 
—  but  the  mission  of  these  schools  is  not  to  fit  young  men  for 
civil  life.  Their  methods  cannot  be  grafted  upon  literary  or 
technical  civil  institutions,  and  it  is  not  desirable  that  they 
should  be  applied  to  civil  colleges  or  schools  of  any  kind. 
But  the  University  of  Alabama  was  a  military  college  so  far 
as  concerned  discipline,  and  to  this  end  I  was  given  a  Colonel's 
commission  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  with  two  assistants, 
one  a  major,  the  other  a  captain.  Tents,  arms  and  infantry 
equipments  were  purchased  of  the  United  States  Government, 
and  a  uniform  similar  to  that  of  the  West  Point  cadets  was 
adopted.  The  students  were  assembled  on  the  first  of  Sep 
tember,  and  a  camp  established  on  the  University  grounds. 
Drills  were  inaugurated  at  once  and  regular  camp  duties 
were  required  and  performed. 

Everything  seemed  to  be  progressing  very  satisfactorily 
till  one  day,  some  three  weeks  after  the  pitching  of  the  camp, 


the  President  of  the  University  (Dr.  Garland)  desired  to  see 
me  at  his  office.  On  entering  I  found  him  and  a  trusted 
professor  awaiting  my  coming,  with  disturbed  looks.  No 
time  was  wasted  in  the  preliminaries ;  Dr.  Garland  came  to 
the  point  at  once  by  telling  me  that  there  was  a  mutiny  brew 
ing  in  my  camp  which  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
quell.  He  then  explained  that  the  cadets  were  dissatisfied 
because  I  was  a  northern-born  man ;  that  they  called  me  a 

d d  Yankee,  and  intended  running  me  out  of  the  State. 

He  thought  they  would  be  successful,  for  the  ringleaders  were 
old  students  who  had  given  a  great  deal  of  trouble  before  I 
came,  and,  what  made  the  matter  worse,  these  students  were 
sons  of  influential  men  in  the  State,  and  the  mothers  of  the 
mutineers  were  encouraging  them. 

I  asked  if  any  of  the  Trustees  or  the  Faculty  wished  me  to 
resign  and  was  assured  of  the  contrary.  I  then  said  that, 
but  for  one  thing,  I  should  have  no  hesitation  in  resigning. 
The  cadets,  backed  by  their  families,  had  threatened  to  run 
me  out  of  the  State ;  I  should  put  upon  them  the  responsi 
bility  of  executing  their  threat ;  I  should  not  resign.  I  went 
back  to  camp  and  never  heard  anything  more  about  the 
"  mutiny." 

I  mention  this  incident  only  to  show  the  feeling  existing  in 
an  extreme  southern  State  at  that  time  —  less  than  two 
months  before  the  election  of  President  Lincoln. 

The  story  of  the  intended  mutiny  was  well  founded,  and 
was  only  one  phase  of  the  general  feeling  of  unrest  through 
out  Alabama.  But,  even  at  that  time,  which  was  within  six 
weeks  of  election  day,  the  idea  of  secession  did  not  prevail. 
Probably  had  its  people  been  called  upon  to  vote  on  the 
question,  there  would  have  been  a  very  large  majority  against 
secession.  After  the  election  in  November  the  unrest  mani 
festly  increased,  and  conservative  men  began  to  consider 
secession  possible  and  even  probable. 

At  the  University  there  was  no  excitement.  Instruction 
went  on  as  usual  and  the  era  of  orderly  deportment,  begun  in 
camp,  continued,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one  and 


8 

especially  to  the  citizens  of  Tuscaloosa.  But  military  disci 
pline,  to  which,  as  admitted  by  every  one,  the  improved  de 
portment  was  due,  added  to  the  outgo  of  the  University 
without  materially  increasing  its  income,  and  the  only  hope  of 
obtaining  money  to  meet  the  increased  expenses  was  through 
an  appropriation  by  the  Legislature.  To  secure  this,  Presi 
dent  Garland  proposed  that  the  battalion  of  Cadets  —  for  so 
the  students  were  called  —  should  go  to  Montgomery  and  be 
reviewed  by  the  Governor  and  by  the  Legislature,  which  was 
then  in  session. 

This  idea  was  strongly  opposed  not  only  by  members  of  the 
Faculty  but  by  men  whose  sons  were  in  the  University.  The 
fear  prevailed  that  the  students  would  be  unmanageable 
under  the  many  temptations  which  Montgomery  would  afford, 
and  that  even  the  well-meant  hospitality  of  the  citizens, 
which  was  sure  to  be  generous,  would  cause  trouble. 
Whether  to  make  the  trip  or  not  was  left  to  my  decision.  I 
decided  without  hesitation  in  favor  of  the  expedition,  and  ar 
rangements  were  made  for  two  steamboats,  one  to  take  us 
down  the  Black  Warrior,  the  other  for  the  journey  up  the 
Alabama  to  Montgomery. 

In  Mobile  the  cadets  were  cordially  received,  and  conducted 
themselves  to  my  entire  satisfaction.  On  the  steamboats 
their  behavior  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  in  Mont 
gomery  everybody  was  proud  of  their  appearance  and  deport 
ment.  For  sleeping  accommodations  the  cadets  carried  their 
own  blankets  and  turned  in  on  the  floor  of  a  large  hall.  Camp 
discipline  was  maintained  and  perfect  order  prevailed. 

The  battalion  was  reviewed  in  front  of  the  State  House  by 
the  Governor  and  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  and  every 
thing  passed  off  most  satisfactorily.  In  the  evening,  after 
the  review,  a  committee  of  the  Legislature  called  on  me  and 
asked  what  I  wanted.  The  reply  was  :  An  annual  appropria 
tion  so  long  as  the  military  organization  was  maintained  at 
the  University. 

I  remember  that  a  cousin  of  Senator  John  P.  Hale  of  New 
Hampshire  (one  of  the  most  pronounced  abolitionists  of  the 


9 

country)  was  a  member  of  the  committee.  He  said  to  me : 
"  Now  you  come  up  to  the  House  tomorrow  and  see  how  we 
will  put  this  matter  through."  I  did  so,  and  certainly  it  was 
"  put  through,"  for,  while  I  was  there  the  bill  was  given  all 
its  readings  —  the  rules  being  suspended  for  the  purpose  — 
and  it  was  taken  to  the  Senate  and  similarly  rushed.  The 
Governor  signed  it,  and  the  next  day  the  cadets  started  on 
their  return  home. 

We  had  left  Tuscaloosa  in  a  heavy  rain-storm,  escorted  to 
the  steamboat  —  some  two  miles  —  by  the  Montgomery 
Guards.  The  trip  had  been  entirely  successful  and  there  had 
not  been  a  case  of  misbehavior  from  start  to  finish.  Of  course 
drinking  was  the  one  thing  to  be  feared,  and  when  one  con 
siders  all  the  temptations  on  the  steamboats  and  in  Mobile  and 
Montgomery,  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  there  were  no  in 
fractions  of  the  rules,  one  of  which  was  that  no  cadet  should 
enter  a  bar-room  on  pain  of  instant  dismissal. 

As  already  stated,  I  went  to  the  University  of  Alabama 
under  leave  of  absence  which  was  to  terminate  in  May,  1861. 
In  February  I  received  an  order  revoking  the  unexpired  por 
tion  of  my  leave  and  directing  me  to  report  for  duty  in  Wash 
ington.  I  replied  that  my  leave  was  granted  with  the  under 
standing  that  I  was  to  resign  at  its  expiration,  and  as  I  saw 
no  reason  to  alter  my  determination,  I  offered  my  resignation. 
There  was  no  expectation  on  my  part  that  my  future  would 
be  any  other  than  such  as  my  position  as  professor  in  the 
University  of  Alabama  would  occasion. 

My  resignation  was  accepted  February  25th.  In  April  — 
I  think  it  was  April  1st  —  I  received  a  telegram  from  the 
Confederate  States  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Mallory,  to  "  come 
to  Montgomery  and  take  a  commission  for  active  service."  I 
think  I  am  quoting  the  words  of  the  message.  I  started 
without  delay,  and  on  arriving  in  Montgomery  was  introduced 
to  Secretary  of  War  Walker,  who  soon  said  to  me :  "  The 
President  has  designated  you  to  go  to  Europe  for  the  pur 
chase  of  arms  and  military  supplies;  when  can  you  go?  "  I 
replied  that,  of  course,  I  could  go  immediately,  but  if  any 


10 

preparations  were  to  be  made  which  would  require  time,  I 
should  like  to  return  to  my  family  before  starting.  "  Take 
ten  days,"  said  he.  "  Be  back  here  at  the  end  of  that  time." 
I  was  then  introduced  to  Col.  Gorgas,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  to 
whom  I  was  to  report. 

I  returned  to  Tuscaloosa  and  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
tenth  day  of  my  leave  of  absence,  I  drove  into  Montgomery 
on  the  top  of  a  stage-coach.  When  near  the  town  we  met  a 
man  on  horseback  who  shouted  that  Beauregard  had  opened 
fire  on  Sumter.  By  this  I  know  that  it  was  April  12th. 
There  was  naturally  much  excitement  in  Montgomery,  espe 
cially  about  the  War  and  Navy  Departments. 

On  reporting  to  Col.  Gorgas,  I  found  that  no  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  my  going  to  Europe.  I  had  no  orders  and 
did  not  know  what  I  was  to  do  for  money.  I  called  on  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Merninger,  but  he  knew  nothing 
about  my  going  abroad.  "  When  are  you  going  ?  "  said  he. 
I  replied  that  if  I  expected  to  get  through  the  North,  I  had 
no  time  to  lose ;  and  it  was  finally  arranged  that  he  should 
provide  me  with  money  for  my  trip  to  New  York,  where  I 
should  receive  funds  for  my  journey  to  Europe.  During  my 
interview  he  remarked  that  he  had  no  money ;  and  it  would 
appear  that  the  statement  was  literally  true,  for  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  from  what  source,  so  soon  after  its  organization,  a 
new  Government  could  derive  any  revenue. 

Before  leaving  Montgomery,  Mr.  Davis  called  me  to  his 
office  and  asked  me  to  be  seated  while  he  received  his  callers, 
saying  he  wanted  to  talk  with  me  about  my  mission,  and  that 
ideas  would  come  to  him  between  his  interviews  with  his 
callers.  I  took  the  chair  assigned  me,  and  while  he  was  read 
ing  the  pile  of  letters  which  lay  open  before  him,  the  callers 
began  to  come  in.  I  do  not  recall  any  of  the  conversation 
which  took  place,  but  I  remember  clearly  one  incident  which 
some  may  say  was  characteristic  of  the  man.  Looking  over  a 
letter  of  four  full-sized  pages,  and  standing  up  with  some 
show  of  irritation,  he  said,  "  I  wish  people  would  not  write 
me  advice,"  and  he  tore  the  letter  in  two ;  and,  repeating  the 


11 

remark,  tore  it  into  small  bits  which  he  threw  upon  the  floor. 
He  mentioned  the  name  of  the  writer,  who,  I  knew,  was  a 
friend  and  neighbor. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  narrate  a  personal  incident  which 
occurred  before  I  left  Montgomery.  One  evening  about  sun 
set,  while  I  was  waiting  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
for  the  comparatively  insignificant  sum  of  money  to  be  pro 
vided  for  my  expenses  to  England,  Mr.  Davis  greeted  me  as 
Major.  I  replied  :  "  I  might  ask,  Mr.  President,  in  what  reg 
iment,"  having  in  mind  the  well  known  anecdote  of  the  sub 
altern  who,  on  handing  the  Emperor  Napoleon  his  chapeau 
which  had  fallen,  was  thanked  under  the  title  of  captain. 
Mr.  Davis  then  explained  the  principle  he  had  laid  down  for 
himself  in  appointing  officers  who  had  been  in  the  U.  S.  army. 
It  was  to  advance  no  one  more  than  one  grade.  He  said  that 
Beauregard  was  only  a  captain  of  engineers,  and  had  been 
made  a  brigadier  general ;  but  in  this,  the  rule  had  not  been 
violated,  for,  by  serving  at  West  Point  as  superintendent 
although  for  a  few  days  only  —  five,  as  shown  by  the  records 
-  he  was  a  colonel  in  the  army,  and  had,  therefore,  been  ad 
vanced  but  one  grade.  Mr.  Davis  remarked  that  there  were 
officers  enough  for  all  field  purposes,  but  the  trouble  was  to 
find  men  qualified  to  prepare  the  army  for  its  work. 

I  had  arranged  to  pass  through  Charleston  in  order  that  I 
might  visit  Suinter  and  see  the  effect  of  the  artillery  fire 
upon  it.  Arriving  in  Charleston  in  the  evening  I  went  to 
Morris  Island  the  following  morning,  and  from  there  in  a  row- 
boat  to  Sumter,  accompanied  by  two  young  artillery  captains. 
We  were  all  young  in  those  days  ;  I  was  just  thirty,  and 
these  young  men  were  my  juniors  by  some  years.  They  had 
both  been  under  my  instruction  as  cadets  at  West  Point  when 
I  was  on  duty  there,  but  I  cannot  now  recall  their  names. 
On  our  return  from  Sumter,  we  three  lay  on  the  warm  sand 
near  the  shore,  and  naturally  the  conversation  was  chiefly  on 
the  events  of  the  last  few  days.  In  the  course  of  our  talk,  I 
remarked,  "  What  in  the  world  made  Anderson  surrender  the 
fort  ? "  For  in  my  opinion  it  was  no  more  damaged  for 


12 


defence  than  a  brick  wall  would  be  by  a  boy's  snapping  mar 
bles  against  it.  As  for  anything  the  Confederate  artillery 
could  bring  to  bear  upon  it,  it  was  literally  impregnable  —  as 
.shown  by  the  fact  that  with  all  the  resources  of  the  United 
States  army  and  navy  it  was  never  retaken.  The  wooden 
quarters  had  taken  fire,  and,  for  a  time  doubtless,  the  fort 
was  a  very  uncomfortable  place,  and  it  was  feared  that  the 
magazine  would  explode.  But  when  Anderson  surrendered 
all  that  danger  had  passed. 

Major  Anderson  was  a  gallant  officer  who  had  proved  his 
efficiency  and  bravery  in  the  Mexican  War,  for  which  he  was 
rewarded  with  two  brevets ;  but  for  one  who  saw  Sumter  as 
I  did,  shortly  after  its  surrender,  when  nothing  had  been 
changed  since  Anderson  saluted  his  flag  and  marched  his 
command  on  board  the  Confederate  steamer  Isabel,  it  is  im 
possible  to  understand  why  the  surrender  should  have  been 
made  when  it  was.  Eventually  his  command  might  have 
been  starved  out.  But  although  for  several  days  it  was 
short  of  some  kinds  of  desirable  food,  and  destitute  of  fresh 
provisions,  there  remained  several  barrels  of  pork  which  he 
took  with  him  when  he  left.  Not  only  was  no  assault  ever 
made,  but  the  enemy  had  no  boats  or  scaling  ladders  with 
which  to  attempt  an  assault,  as  Anderson  must  have  known. 

If  the  United  States  Government  deliberately  intended  to 
force  a  war  and  thus  settle  once  for  all  the  entire  question 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  no  strategy  could  have 
been  more  effectual  than  that  of  sacrificing  Sumter  exactly  as 
it  was  sacrificed.  The  whole  affair  could  not  have  been  ar 
ranged  with  greater  shrewdness  and  finesse.  Anderson  and 
his  officers  —  without  an  exception,  gallant  and  competent  — 
were  made  to  appear  as  heroes  and,  in  a  sense,  they  were ; 
the  North  was  completely  unified,  and  the  same  can  be  said 
of  the  South.  The  lines  were  now  distinctly  and  definitely 
drawn,  and  every  man  from  Maine  to  Georgia  must  declare 
for  the  Government  or  against  it.  War  began  such  as  no 
man  could  have  foretold  and  such  as  could  not  cease  till  one 
side  or  the  other  should  be  completely  exhausted. 


13 

From  Charleston  I  went  to  Baltimore  by  the  Bay  Line 
steamers  from  Norfolk,  arriving  on  Sunday  morning  —  the  day 
that  the  men  who  had  been  killed  the  Friday  previous  were 
to  be  buried.  The  excitement  was  intense,  but  the  city  was 
quiet  —  uncomfortably  quiet.  No  one  knew  what  next  to 
expect.  I  was  for  my  own  part,  concerned  only  about  get 
ting  to  New  York.  There  were  no  trains  running,  bridges 
having  been  burned,  and  no  one  could  say  when  railway  traffic 
would  be  resumed. 

There  were  a  few  other  travelers  bound  northward  who 
were  eager  to  continue  their  journey.  Two  of  these  —  young 
men  from  Charleston  —  approached  me  cautiously  with  a  pro 
posal  that  we  three  should  hire  a  carriage  to  take  us  to  York, 
Pa.,  and  we  arranged  to  go.  Before  we  were  ready  to  start, 
an  elderly  gentleman  asked  to  be  permitted  to  join  the  party. 
He  was  a  large,  handsome  man,  and  was  anxious  to  get  to 
Philadelphia  as  soon  as  possible,  to  see  a  daughter  who  lay  at 
the  point  of  death.  The  new  comer  would  be  a  serious  addi 
tion  to  the  weight  in  our  carriage,  but  I  had  reason  to  be 
thankful  that  we  accommodated  him,  as  will  appear  later. 

After  starting,  it  was  determined  —  why  I  cannot  now  say 
—  to  go  to  Havre  de  Grace,  instead  of  York.  On  our  arrival 
in  the  evening,  we  found  the  ferry  boat  had  been  taken  to 
convey  troops  to  Annapolis,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done  but  wait.  We  all  found  comfortable  lodgings  at  a 
small  hotel,  and  in  the  morning  a  flat  boat  took  us  across  to 
Perryville. 

Among  the  passengers  were  several  men  and  women  who, 
as  soon  as  the  boat  landed,  collected  on  the  piazza  of  a  little 
country  hotel  near  the  landing  and  began  singing  patriotic 
songs.  They  were  apparently  overjoyed  at  their  escape  from 
the  south-land. 

At  Perryville  there  was  a  large  wooden  shed  which  served 
as  a  railway  station;  employees  were  standing  about,  but 
none  could  give  any  information  concerning  the  trains,  all  of 
which,  they  said,  had  been  taken  by  the  Government.  Be 
fore  noon,  however,  a  long  train  came  thundering  into  the 


14 

station,  and  immediately  men  in  uniform  poured  out  of  the 
cars  and  ran  to  the  water-side,  where  they  bathed  their  faces 
and  hands.  They  were  going  to  the  front.  The  same  train 
was  soon  ready  to  return  to  Philadelphia  and  all  who  desired 
to  go  were  accommodated. 

It  was  impossible  to  get  farther  than  Philadelphia  that  day. 
The  next  morning,  on  taking  my  seat  in  the  train,  I  recog 
nized  the  gentleman  directly  behind  me  as  the  Hon.  Caleb 
Gushing.  I  did  not  accost  him,  not  caring  to  meet  acquaint 
ances  just  then,  and,  moreover,  I  had  no  reason  to  think  that 
he  knew  me,  for  although  we  were  born  in  the  same  town,  — 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  —  he  was  a  distinguished  public  man 
when  I  was  a  boy. 

The  route  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  was  by  the  way 
of  Camden  to  South  Amboy,  and  thence  by  steamboat.  The 
latter  was  a  ferry  boat  with  room  for  teams  on  each  side  of 
the  engine.  There  were  no  teams  on  board,  and,  as  I  had 
been  sitting  for  some  time,  and  now  that  we  were  nearing 
New  York  where  I  was  likely  at  any  moment  to  meet  an  ac 
quaintance,  I  was  a  little  nervous,  I  walked  about  the  lower 
deck.  In  doing  so  I  met  Mr.  Gushing  face  to  face.  He  was 
passing  the  time  in  a  similar  manner.  I  lifted  my  cap,  as  I 
would  to  any  superior  officer,  or  public  man.  Immediately 
Mr.  Gushing  stopped  and  said : 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Huse,  you  are  with  the  South,  I  un 
derstand." 

For  the  moment  I  was  staggered,  but  quickly  calling  to 
mind  that  Mr.  Gushing  had  been  chairman  of  the  Charleston 
Democratic  Convention  which  nominated  John  C.  Brecken- 
ridge  for  President,  I  replied  : 

"  Yes,  sir,  what  chance  do  you  think  the  South  has  ?  " 

"  What  chance  can  it  have  ?  "  he  said,  "  the  money  is  all  in 
the  North ;  the  manufactories  are  all  in  the  North ;  the  ships 
are  all  in  the  North ;  the  arms  and  arsenals  are  all  in  the 
North ;  the  arsenals  of  Europe  are  within  ten  days  of  New 
York,  and  they  will  be  open  to  the  United  States  Govern 
ment,  and  closed  to  the  South ;  and  the  Southern  ports  will 


15 

be  blockaded.  What  possible  chance  can  the  South  have  ?  " 
There  was  nothing  for  me  to  say  in  reply,  and  I  probably 
did  the  best  I  could  have  done  under  the  circumstances. 
Looking  him  squarely  in  the  eye,  I  lifted  my  cap  and  said : 
"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Gushing."  I  never  saw  him  afterwards. 

On  landing  at  the  Battery,  I  gave  my  baggage  checks  to  an 
expressman,  taking  his  receipt  and  telling  him  to  hold  the 
baggage  till  called  for.  As  it  might  be  very  important  not  to 
be  recognized,  I  took  the  precaution  to  leave  no  trail  by  my 
baggage,  which  was  taken  to  Liverpool  later  by  one  of  the 
young  men  who  had  been  my  carriage  companion  from  Balti 
more.  I  went  at  once  to  the  Bank  of  the  Republic,  where  I 
was  to  find  letters  which  would  enable  me  to  obtain  money 
for  my  voyage. 

I  was  told  to  call  for  Mr.  S ,  the  cashier  of  the  bank. 

On  his  coming  to  the  window,  I  asked  if  he  had  any  letters 
from  Montgomery.  His  face  immediately  showed  real  fear. 
Opening  a  door  near  by,  he  said,  "  Come  in,"  and  I  found 
myself  in  the  bank  parlor.  He  immediately  locked  the  door, 
pulled  down  the  window  shades  and  then  asked,  "  Now  what 
is  it?" 

In  the  brief  time  occupied  in  drawing  down  the  shades, 
etc.,  I  determined  what  to  do,  and  replied,  — 

"  I  see,  Mr.  S.,  that  you  are  much  agitated  by  my  visit,  and 
I  will  not  further  compromise  you  by  giving  you  my  name  ; 
but  if  you  have  any  letters  from  Montgomery,  which  you  do 
not  recognize,  will  you  be  good  enough  to  send  them  around 
to  Trenholm  Brothers,  in  Pine  Street." 

He  assured  me  he  would,  and  I  bade  him  good  morning. 
As  I  was  leaving  he  said  there  was  intense  excitement  on  the 
street ;  Anderson's  command  had  just  marched  up  Broadway 
and  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  I  had  observed  a  small 
United  States  flag  near  the  entrance,  and  Mr.  S.  said  he 
believed  if  that  flag  were  not  at  the  door,  the  mob  would 
attack  the  bank. 

At  the  office  of  Trenholm  Brothers  I  inquired  for  Mr. 
Wellsman,  and  was  shown  into  an  inner  room  where  I  met  a 


16 


large,  middle-aged  man  bearing  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
white-haired  gentleman  who  had  been  one  of  the  party  from 
Baltimore  to  Havre  de  Grace.  I  introduced  myself  by  say 
ing  that  Captain  Wellsman  was  my  travelling  companion  from 
Baltimore  on  Sunday. 

"  He  is  my  father,"  said  Mr.  Wellsman.  I  told  him  of 
meeting  Capt.  Wellsman  at  the  Philadelphia  station  that 
morning,  and  that  he  asked  me  to  say  he  had  found  his 
daughter  much  better  than  he  expected,  and  they  now  had 
hopes  of  her  recovery.  I  then  explained  to  him  that  I  was  an 
officer  of  the  Confederate  States  Army,  on  my  way  to  Europe 
to  purchase  arms  and  other  army  supplies ;  that  I  was  to  be 
provided  with  funds  through  Fraser,  Trenholm  &  Co.,  Liver 
pool,  and  expected  to  get  money  from  Trenholm  Brothers  for 
the  expenses  of  the  voyage.  Mr.  Wellsman  had  no  letters 
for  me,  and  had  received  no  information  from  Montgomery 
concerning  me.  Having  no  money  for  my  voyage,  the  situa 
tion  was  becoming  serious. 

Excusing  himself  after  a  short  time,  Mr.  Wellsman  left  the 
office,  and  returning  within  half  an  hour,  was  even  more 
alarmed  than  Mr.  S.  had  appeared  to  be.  He  said  the  excite 
ment  was  very  great,  and  that  he  believed  if  the  crowd  dis 
covered  my  business,  they  would  hang  me  to  a  lamp-post ;  I 
must  not  leave  the  office  till  I  started  for  the  train.  What 
did  I  propose  to  do  ?  I  ought  not  to  think  of  sailing  from 
New  York. 

I  replied  that  I  would  go  to  Canada  and  take  the  steamer 
from  Montreal.  But  I  could  not  sail  from  anywhere  without 
money. 

"  You  can  have  the  money,"  said  Mr.  Wellsman.  "  How 
much  do  you  want?  " 

"  Five  hundred  dollars."    ' 

"  And  you  want  it  in  gold  ?  " 

"Yes." 

He  procured  the  gold,  ordered  some  lunch  to  be  brought* 
and  about  three  o'clock  I  started  for  the  Erie  Railway  station. 
Sometimes  we  entertain  angels  unawares.  Captain  Wells- 


17 

man  seems  to  have  been  a  veritable  angel.  The  simple,  verbal 
message  that  I  carried  to  his  son  served  me  as  a  letter  of 
credit.  Without  it,  I  cannot  now  see  what  I  could  have 
done.  Ten  years  after  the  war,  when  I  met  an  old  friend,  he 
assured  rne  that  he  would  have  had  me  arrested,  had  he 
known  my  mission  while  I  was  in  New  York. 

When  I  left  the  office  of  Trenholrn  Brothers,  a  man  on  the 
sidewalk  signaled  to  another  on  the  opposite  side  of  Pine 
street,  and  one  of  these  men  sat  opposite  me  on  the  ferry-boat. 
Whether  or  not  they  were  shadowing  me  I  never  knew.  I 
saw  nothing  more  of  them  after  leaving  the  boat,  and  had  no 
further  adventures  till  I  reached  Turner's,  where  trains  stop 
for  supper.  In  the  restaurant,  I  recognized  a  number  of 
friends,  and  my  only  prudent  course  was  to  go  without  my 
supper  or  seek  it  elsewhere.  I  chose  the  latter,  and  got  what 
I  could  at  a  bar  near  by. 

I  had  no  baggage  —  not  even  an  overcoat  —  and  the  night 
was  cold.  I  was  in  an  ordinary  day-coach  on  my  way  to 
Hamilton,  Canada.  Through  trains  were  not  so  frequent 
then  as  now,  and  in  Buffalo  I  had  to  wait  some  time,  much 
of  which  I  passed  in  seeing  the  town.  While  walking  in  a 
retired  part  of  the  city,  I  just  escaped  meeting  an  officer  of 
the  army  whom  I  knew,  by  turning  down  a  cross  street. 

At  Hamilton  I  purchased  clothing  for  the  voyage,  and  was 
disappointed  to  find  that  I  should  have  to  wait  several  days 
for  the  next  steamer  from  Montreal ;  I  therefore  decided  to 
sail  from  Portland,  but  delayed  purchasing  my  ticket  till  I 
could  take  the  last  train  that  would  reach  that  city  in  time 
to  board  the  steamer.  This  train  went  only  to  State  Line  on 
the  day  it  left  Hamilton,  where  I  stopped  over  night.  I  re 
member  the  place  from  the  fact  that,  although  late  in  April, 
I  was  obliged  to  break  the  ice  in  my  pitcher  the  next  morn 
ing,  when  I  started  on  what  proved  to  be  my  last  journey  in 
the  United  States  for  several  years.  At  nearly  every  stop- 
.  ping  place  on  the  way  to  Portland,  men  in  uniform  and  fully 
equipped  entered  the  cars.  We  were  picking  up  a  regiment 
under  orders  for  the  front. 


18 

We  finally  arrived,  and  my  ship  was  in  sight  at  anchor.  I 
confess  to  a  feeling  of  relief  when  I  stepped  on  board  from 
the  tug,  and  that  feeling  was  enhanced  when  we  weighed 
anchor  and  the  screw  began  pushing  us  out  into  the  neutral 
territory  of  the  broad  Atlantic. 

There  were  few  passengers,  and  the  voyage  was  without 
incident  save  one  of  no  importance  except  as  tending  to  con 
firm  the  theory  of  transmission  of  thought  without  language. 
My  table-neighbor  was  a  young  sea-captain  from  Maine,  who 
was  returning  to  his  vessel,  which  he  had  left  in  Liverpool 
some  weeks  before,  to  confer  with  the  owners. 

One  day  at  dinner,  without  any  previous  conversation  what 
ever  to  lead  even  indirectly  to  such  a  remark,  he  said :  "I 
believe  you  are  going  to  Europe  to  buy  arms  for  Jeff.  Davis." 

I  was  in  the  act  of  taking  a  piece  of  potato  on  my  fork, 
and,  to  gain  time  before  answering,  I  passed  the  potato  to  my 
mouth  and  then  made  about  as  foolish  a  reply  as  was  possible, 
saying,  "If  he  wanted  arms  he  would  be  likely  to  select  a 
man  who  knew  something  about  arms."  The  captain  imme 
diately  remarked,  "  Sometimes  those  fellows  that  know  the 
most,  say  the  least."  I  could  think  of  nothing  to  say  to  ad 
vantage,  and  said  nothing;  the  matter  was  never  referred  to 
again. 

On  arriving  in  London  I  went  to  what  was  then  a  favorite 
hotel  for  Americans,  —  Morley's  in  Trafalgar  Square.  The 
remark  of  the  ship-captain  interested  me,  and  I  resolved  to 
probe  the  matter  a  little  by  calling  on  a  gentleman  with 
whom  I  had  conversed  more  freely  than  with  any  other  pas 
senger.  He  was  a  lawyer  from  Portland,  who  in  his  younger 
days  had  taught  school  in  Mississippi.  He  was  stopping  at  a 
near-by  hotel  on  the  Strand.  On  meeting  him,  I  asked  if  he 
knew  the  object  of  my  visit  to  Europe.  He  replied  he  had 
not  the  slightest  idea  why  I  was  there.  I  then  told  him  of 
the  captain's  remark,  and  that  his  surmise  was  correct.  I  am 
very  sure  that,  during  the  voyage,  I  said  nothing  from  which 
the  nature  of  my  business  could  be  inferred  ;  and  as  for 
papers,  I  had  received  none  since  leaving  Montgomery. 


19 

My  orders  were  to  purchase  12,000  rifles  and  a  battery  of 
field  artillery,  and  to  procure  one  or  two  guns  of  larger  cali 
bre  as  models.  A  short  time  before  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  the  London  Armory  Company  had  purchased  a  plant  of 
gun-stocking  machinery  from  the  Ames  Manufacturing  Com 
pany  of  Chicopee,  Mass.  Knowing  this,  I  went  to  the  office 
of  the  Armory  Company  the  day  after  my  arrival  in  London, 
with  the  intention  of  securing,  if  possible,  their  entire  output. 

On  entering  the  Superintendent's  office,  I  found  there  the 
American  engineer  who  superintended  the  erection  of  the 
plant.  I  had  known  him  in  Chicopee.  Suspecting  he  might 
be  an  agent  for  the  purchase  of  arms  for  the  United  States 
Government,  I  asked  him,  bluntly,  if  he  was,  and  added,  "  I 
am  buying  for  the  Confederate  Government."  Such  a  dis 
closure  of  my  business  may  seem  to  have  been  indiscreet,  but 
at  that  time  I  thought  it  my  best  plan,  and  the  result  proved 
that  I  was  right.  He  made  no  reply  to  my  inquiry,  but  I  was 
satisfied  my  suspicion  was  correct  and  resolved  on  the  spot,  to 
flank  his  movement  if  possible. 

As  he  had  entered  the  office  first,  it  was  in  order  for  me  to 
outstay  him,  which  I  did.  On  his  leaving,  I  asked  for  a  price 
for  all  the  small  arms  the  Company  could  manufacture. 

The  Superintendent  said  he  could  not  answer  me,  but 
would  refer  me  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Company,  —  Presi 
dent,  we  should  call  him  —  and  would  accompany  me  to  his 
office.  There  I  repeated  my  inquiry  for  a  price  for  all  the 
arms  the  Company  could  make  for  a  year,  with  the  privilege 
of  renewing  the  order.  The  President  was  not  prepared  to 
give  me  a  price,  but  would  do  so  the  next  day.  On  calling 
at  his  office  the  following  day,  he  told  me  that  the  Company 
was  under  contract  for  all  the  arms  it  could  turn  out,  and 
considering  all  the  circumstances,  the  Directors  felt  they 
ought  to  give  their  present  customer  the  preference  over  all 
others. 

Confirmed  in  my  belief  that  my  competitor  was  no  other 
than  the  man  whom  I  had  encountered  the  day  before,  I  was 
now  more  determined  than  ever  to  secure  the  London  Armory 


20 

as  a  Confederate  States  arms  factory.  The  Atlantic  cable 
was  not  then  laid,  and  correspondence  by  mail  required 
nearly  a  month  —  an  unreasonable  time  for  a  commercial  com 
pany  to  hold  in  abeyance  a  desirable  opportunity  for  profit. 
Within  a  few  days  I  succeeded  in  closing  a  contract  under 
which  I  was  to  have  all  the  arms  the  Company  could  manu 
facture,  after  filling  a  comparatively  small  order  for  the 
United  States  agent.  This  Company,  during  the  remainder 
of  the  war,  turned  all  its  output  of  arms  over  to  me  for  the 
Confederate  army. 

Baring  Brothers  were,  at  that  time,  the  London  financial 
agents  for  the  United  States  Government,  and  they  would 
unquestionably  have  been  supported  and  gratefully  thanked, 
had  they  assumed  the  responsibility  of  contracting  for  all  the 
arms  in  sight  in  England.  Any  army  officer,  fit  for  such  a 
mission  as  that  of  buying  arms  for  a  great  Government  at  the 
outbreak  of  a  war,  would  have  acted,  if  necessary,  without 
instructions,  and  secured  everything  that  he  could  find  in  the 
line  of  essentials,  especially  arms,  of  which  there  were  very 
few  in  the  market.  There  were  muskets  enough  to  be  had  for 
almost  any  reasonable  offer,  but  of  modern  Enfield  or  Spring 
field  rifles  —  which  were  practically  the  same  —  there  were 
only  a  few  thousand  in  England,  and  none  elsewhere  except 
in  Austria,  where  all  were  owned  by  the  Government.  And, 
according  to  Mr.  Gushing,  these  would  be  available  by  the 
United  States  but  impossible  of  purchase  by  "the  South." 
Yet  even  so  high  an  authority  as  Ex- Attorney  General  Gush 
ing  proved  to  be  wrong  in  his  assumption,  as  will  be  shown 
below. 

Any  young,  intelligent  West  Point  graduate  holding  an 
army  commission  and  as  fearless  in  assuming  responsibility  as 
the  average  "  graduate,"  would  not  only  have  prevented  my 
making  this  important  contract,  but  would  have  blocked  my 
efforts  in  every  direction ;  for  in  all  Europe  the  supply  of 
arms  ready  for  use  or  possible  of  manufacture  was  very  lim 
ited.  Such  an  officer  would  have  secured  everything  worth 
having  — in  other  words,  all  the  best  —  and  only  inferior 


21 

arms  of  antiquated  model  would  have  been  left  for  the  Con 
federacy.  The  effect  would  have  been  not  only  to  give  the 
United  States  good  arms  in  profusion,  but  utterly  to  discour 
age  their  opponents  by  the  inferiority  of  their  weapons. 

Mr.  Davis  did  not  make  the  great  mistake  of  sending  a 
civil  agent  to  purchase  supplies  —  a  duty  as  thoroughly  mili 
tary  as  any  that  could  be  named  —  nor  the  still  greater 
blunder  of  setting  several  men  to  do  what  one  man,  with 
uncontrolled  authority,  could  do  so  much  better.  Doubtless 
he  could  have  found  men  who  would  have  performed  the 
duty  as  well  as  did  the  young  officer  whom  he  selected,  and 
some  who  would  have  done  their  part  better ;  but,  during  the 
whole  war,  no  change  was  made,  although  not  to  remove  him 
often  required  that  firmness  —  not  to  say  obstinacy  —  which 
was  a  prominent  trait  of  Mr.  Davis's  character,  and  which, 
right  or  wrong,  but  especially  when  he  was  right,  he  exer 
cised  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

When  I  arrived  in  England,  the  Confederate  States  Gov 
ernment  was  already  represented  by  Hon.  William  L.  Yancey, 
Commissioner  to  England ;  his  secretary,  Mr.  Walker  Fearn, 
afterwards  United  States  Minister  to  Greece ;  Judge  Rost,  of 
New  Orleans,  Commissioner  to  France,  with  his  son  as  secre 
tary  ;  and  Mr.  Dudley  Mann,  commonly  known  as  Col.  Mann, 
who  held  an  appointment  as  Commissioner,  but  to  what 
country  I  do  not  know.  Later,  Hon.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  after 
wards  United  States  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  later  still 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  was  appointed 
Commissioner  to  Russia,  but  he  went  no  further  than  Paris, 
and  returned  to  Richmond  before  the  end  of  the  war.  Com 
mander  James  D.  Bulloch,  previously  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  whose  sister  was  the  mother  of  President  Roosevelt, 
was  in  charge  of  all  naval  matters.  Messrs.  Fraser,  Tren- 
holm  &  Co.,  of  Liverpool,  were  the  fiscal  agents. 

All  these  representatives  worked  in  complete  harmony, 
without  jealousy  or  clashing  of  opinion ;  each  was  ready  to 
assist  the  others  in  every  way  possible.  They  were  all  cul 
tured  men,  of  agreeable  personality,  and  as  far  removed  from 


22 

the  genus  homo  which  has  been  designated  as  "hot-headed 
Southerner,"  as  can  well  be  imagined.  They  lived  unostenta 
tiously,  in  modest,  but  entirely  respectable  lodgings  in  the 
West  End,  London,  except  Judge  Host,  who  resided  in  Paris, 
and  Commander  Bulloch,  who  made  his  headquarters  in 
Liverpool.  None  of  the  representatives  of  the  Confederate 
Government  required  much  money  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties,  except  Commander  Bulloch  and  myself.  We  were 
both  to  look  to  Fraser,  Trenholm  &  Co.,  for  all  the  money  we 
were  to  expend,  as  indeed  were  all  the  diplomatic  agents. 

The  fiscal  system  was,  almost  of  necessity,  of  the  most  sim 
ple  character.  Fraser,  Trenholm  &  Co.,  of  Liverpool,  John 
Fraser  &  Co.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  Trenholm  Brothers, 
of  New  York,  were  practically  one  concern,  and  the  senior 
member  of  John  Fraser  &  Co.,  Mr.  William  Trenholm,  became 
Confederate  States  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  early  in  the 
war.  Mr.  Wellsman,  senior  member  of  Trenholm  Brothers, 
in  New  York,  joined  the  Liverpool  house,  the  senior  member 
and  manager  of  which  was  Charles  K.  Prioleau,  formerly  of 
Charleston.  There  was  no  loan  to  negotiate ;  for  the  Con 
federacy —  recognized  only  as  belligerents  —  had  no  credit 
among  nations,  and  no  system  of  taxation  by  which  it  could 
hope  to  derive  any  revenue  available  for  purchasing  supplies 
abroad.  But  it  possessed  a  latent  purchasing  power  such  as 
probably  no  other  Government  in  history  ever  had. 

The  cotton  crop  of  its  people  was  a  prime  necessity  for  the 
manufacturing  world  outside,  and,  for  want  of  machinery, 
was  utterly  valueless  in  all  the  Southern  States  except 
Georgia,  where  there  were  a  few  small  factories.  Almost  im 
mediately  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  the  Confederate 
authorities  began  to  buy  cotton,  paying  in  such  "  money  "  as 
it  had ;  that  is  to  say,  its  own  promises  to  pay  whenever  it 
could.  Some  of  these  promises  bore  interest  and  were  called 
bonds ;  some  bore  no  interest,  and  these  constituted  the  cur 
rency  of  the  country. 

The  cotton,  as  it  lay  on  the  plantations  or  in  the  ware 
houses,  was  for  sale,  and  the  Government  was  almost  the  only 


23 

buyer.  To  all  others  there  was  a  difficulty,  amounting  almost 
to  impossibility,  in  getting  cotton  to  market.  Some,  no 
doubt,  was  smuggled  across  the  border,  to  the  advantage  of 
"  patriots  "  of  each  side ;  but  this  outlet  for  a  bulky  article 
like  cotton  was  altogether  inadequate,  and,  practically,  every 
one  was  compelled  by  the  very  condition  of  affairs,  without 
the  application  of  even  moral  force,  to  sell  to  the  Government 
and  receive  in  payment  the  best  that  the  Government  had  to 
offer;  namely:  its  own  promises  to  pay,  which,  whether 
stated  as  a  condition  of  the  promis'e  or  not,  could  not  be  made 
good  till  after  the  favorable  close  of  the  war.  If  the  South 
failed,  the  promises  would  be  valueless ;  if  it  succeeded,  the 
obligations  would  be  met  as  promptly  as  possible.  The  situa 
tion  was  accepted  by  the  people,  and  the  Government  acquired 
cotton  and  shipped  it  to  Nassau,  Bermuda,  and  Havana  as 
fast  as  it  could. 

To  get  cotton  through  the  blockading  squadron  called  for 
daring  and  skill ;  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  lack  of 
either,  and  it  was  not  long  before  every  steam  vessel  that 
could  carry  even  a  few  bales,  and  was  seaworthy  enough  to 
reach  Nassau,  was  ready  with  a  crew  on  board,  eager  to  sneak 
out  any  dark  night  and  run  to  a  neutral  port,  —  generally 
Nassau. 

For  a  long  time  this  traffic  went  on  almost  without  a 
capture,  and  the  Confederate  Government  not  only  deposited 
in  places  of  safety  large  quantities  of  a  commodity  in  general 
demand  throughout  the  world,  but  also  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  its  property  advance  rapidly  in  value  as  the  war 
went  on,  and  its  necessities  increased.  The  cotton  thus 
shipped  was  all  consigned  to  Fraser,  Trenholm  &  Co.,  Liver 
pool,  and  the  consignments  for  the  army,  navy  and  diplomatic 
departments  were  carefully  kept  separate.  There  was,  there 
fore,  no  clashing  of  interests  between  the  army  and  navy,  as 
to  disposition  of  proceeds.  The  requirements  for  the  diplo 
matic  agents  were  trifling  compared  with  those  of  the  army 
for  supplies  and  the  navy  for  building,  equipping  and  man 
ning  ships. 


24 

I  had  not  been  long  in  England  before  the  sinews  of  war 
began  to  be  available,  and  I  found  myself  able  to  meet  my  en 
gagements  in  a  manner  entirely  satisfactory  to  my  creditors. 
To  buy  supplies  was  simple  enough ;  but  to  ship  them  was 
another  matter.  As  was  to  be  expected,  detectives  employed 
by  the  U.  S.  Government  as  well  as  volunteer  spies  were 
about  me.  Efforts  were  made  to  intercept  telegrams  and  to 
tamper  with  employees,  but  feAV  of  these  attempts  at  stopping 
Confederate  army  supplies  were  successful. 

One  success  scored  by  the  United  States  was  the  capture 
of  the  "  Stephen  Hart,"  a  schooner  of  American  build,  but 
purchased  by  an  English  house  and  put  under  the  British 
flag  for  Confederate  use.  The  proof  that  she  was  loaded 
with  army  supplies  destined  for  the  Confederate  States  was 
so  complete  that  no  expense  was  incurred  in  defending  the 
rights  of  the  quasi  British  owners.  It  was  a  mistake  to  ship 
such  supplies  by  sailing  vessels,  and  there  were  other  errors 
of  judgment  which  were  not  repeated. 

After  the  "  Stephen  Hart "  episode,  all  army  supplies  were 
carried  by  steamer,  either  to  a  Confederate  port  direct,  or  to 
Nassau  or  Bermuda.  There  was  little  difficulty  in  charter 
ing  steamers  to  carry  supplies  to  "  The  Islands."  Generally 
both  ship  and  cargo  belonged  in  good  faith  to  British  sub 
jects  ;  and,  as  the  voyage  was  from  one  British  port  to 
another,  the  entire  business  was  as  lawful  as  a  similar  ship 
ment  would  have  been  from  London  to  Liverpool.  But  one 
of  the  most  innocent  shipments  was  not  only  captured,  but 
the  capture  was  confirmed,  and  there  was  not  on  board  one 
penny's  worth  of  property  belonging  to  the  Confederate 
States  or  to  any  American  citizen.  The  ship  "  The  Spring- 
bock,"  was  loaded  by  a  firm  from  whom  I  had  purchased 
many  supplies ;  but  in  this  instance,  the  cargo  was  to  be  sold 
in  Nassau,  and  there  was  nothing  of  a  suspicious  character 
on  board,  excepting  some  brass  buttons  bearing  the  device 
"  C.  S.  A.,"  and  these  buttons  were  put  on  board  the  last  day 
against  the  wishes  of  one  of  the  partners  who  feared  they 
would  be  considered  as  tainting  the  whole  cargo.  And  so 


25 

the  United  States  Court  decided.  Everything  else  on  board 
was  likely  to  be  wanted  in  any  country  whose  ports  had  been 
blockaded  for  several  months,  but  none  of  the  articles  were 
such  as  could  be  classed  as  military  supplies. 

To  get  the  supplies  from  "  The  Islands  "  to  the  main  land 
required  sea-worthy  steamers  of  light  draught  and  great 
speed.  Many  such  vessels  were  purchased  and  sent  out 
under  captains  who  were  equal  to  any  emergency,  among 
whom  were  several  former  U.  S.  Navy  officers.  Some  of 
these  steamers  had  been  private  yachts,  as  for  example  the 
"  Merrimac  ;  "  (there  were  two  "  Merrimacs  ")  ;  some  were 
engaged  in  trade  between  British  ports,  as  the  "  Cornubia ;  " 
some  were  taken  from  the  Channel  service  between  England 
and  France,  as  the  "  Eugenie ; "  and  some  were  built  for 
opium  smuggling  in  China.  Later  in  the  war,  steamers  were 
built  expressly  for  the  service. 

During  the  first  two  years,  the  captures  were  so  infrequent 
that,  it  may  be  safely  stated,  never  before  was  a  Government 
at  war  so  well  supplied  with  arms,  munitions,  clothing  and 
medicines  —  everything,  in  short,  that  an  army  requires  —  with 
so  little  money  as  was  paid  by  the  Confederacy.  The  ship 
ment  from  England  to  the  Islands  in  ordinary  tramp  steamers  ; 
the  landing  and  storage  there,  and  the  running  of  the  blockade, 
cost  money ;  but  all  that  was  needed  came  from  cotton  prac 
tically  given  to  the  Confederate  Government  by  its  owners. 

The  supplies  were,  in  every  instance,  bought  at  the  lowest 
cash  prices  by  men  trained  in  the  work  as  contractors  for 
the  British  army.  No  credit  was  asked.  Merchants  having 
needed  supplies  were  frankly  told  that  our  means  were  lim 
ited,  and  our  payments  would  be  made  by  cheques  on  Fraser, 
Trenholm  &  Co.,  Liverpool,  an  old  established  and  conserva 
tive  house.  The  effect  of  such  buying  was  to  create  confi 
dence  on  the  part  of  the  sellers,  which  made  them  more 
anxious  to  sell  than  were  we  to  purchase.  When  the  end 
came,  and  some  of  the  largest  sellers  were  ruined,  I  never 
heard  a  word  of  complaint  of  their  being  over-reached  or  in 
any  manner  treated  unfairly. 


26 

As  long  as  the  system  thus  described  continued,  the  South 
not  only  equipped  an  army  able  to  cope  with  the  colossal 
forces  constantly  advancing  upon  it,  but  it  accomplished  this 
without  distressing  its  people  with  taxes.  And  thus,  in  part, 
was  answered  Mr.  Cushing's  apparently  unanswerable  excla 
mation  :  "  What  possible  chance  can  the  South  have  ?  " 

But  the  supply  of  acceptable  arms  was  not  equal  to  the 
demand.  The  civilized  powers  had  but  recently  been  equipped 
with  modern  arms.  The  United  States  had  the  Springfield ; 
England  had  the  Enfield,  which  was  practically  the  same  as 
the  Springfield ;  Austria  had  a  rifle  bearing  a  close  resem 
blance  to  both,  and  of  about  the  same  calibre ;  Prussia  had  a 
breech-loader  which  no  Government  would  now  think  of  issu 
ing  to  troops  ;  France  had  an  inferior  muzzle-loader,  and  was 
experimenting  with  an  imitation  of  the  Prussian  needle-gun, 
which  finally  proved  ruinous  to  the  Empire.  There  were  few 
arms  for  sale,  even  in  the  arsenals  of  Europe,  which  Mr. 
Gushing  had  said  would  be  open  to  the  United  States  and 
closed  to  the  South.  Austria,  however,  had  a  considerable 
quantity  on  hand,  and  these  an  intermediary  proposed  I  should 
buy. 

I  knew  something  of  the  armament  of  Austria,  having  visi 
ted  Vienna  in  1859,  with  a  letter  from  the  United  States 
War  Department,  which  gave  me  some  facilities  for  observa 
tion.  At  first  I  considered  the  getting  of  anything  from  an 
Imperial  Austrian  Arsenal  as  chimerical.  But  my  would-be 
intermediary  was  so  persistent  that,  finally  I  accompanied 
him  to  Vienna  and,  within  a  few  days,  closed  a  contract  for 
100,000  rifles  of  the  latest  Austrian  pattern,  and  ten  batteries, 
of  six  pieces  each,  of  field  artillery,  with  harness  complete, 
ready  for  service,  and  a  quantity  of  ammunition,  all  to  be  de 
livered  on  ship  at  Hamburg.  The  United  States  Minister, 
Mr.  Motley,  protested  in  vain.  He  was  told  that  the  making 
of  arms  was  an  important  industry  of  Austria ;  that  the  same 
arms  had  been  offered  to  the  United  States  Government  and 
declined,  and  that,  as  belligerents,  the  Confederate  States  were, 
by  the  usage  of  nations,  lawful  buyers.  However  unsatisfac- 


27 

tory  this  answer  may  have  been  to  Washington,  the  arms 
were  delivered,  and  in  due  time  were  shipped  to  Bermuda 
from  Hamburg.  Mr.  Motley  offered  to  buy  the  whole  con 
signment,  but  was  too  late.  The  Austrian  Government  de 
clined  to  break  faith  with  the  purchasers. 

I  confess  to  a  glow  of  pride  when  I  saw  those  sixty  pieces 
of  rifled  artillery  with  caissons,  field-forges,  and  battery- 
wagons,  complete  —  some  two  hundred  carriages  in  all  — 
drawn  up  in  array  in  the  arsenal  .yard.  It  was  pardonable 
for  a  moment  to  imagine  myself  in  command  of  a  magnificent 
park  of  artillery.  The  explanation  of  Austria's  willingness 
to  dispose  of  these  batteries  is  that  the  authorities  had  decided 
on  the  use  of  gun-cotton  in  the  place  of  powder ;  and  the 
change  involved  new  guns,  although  those  sold  to  me  were  of 
the  latest  design  for  gunpowder.  I  believe  gun-cotton  was 
given  up  not  long  after. 

Again  Mr.  Cushing's  "  What  possible  chance  can  the  South 
now  have  ? "  was  in  part  answered.  At  least  one  of  the 
greatest  arsenals  of  Europe  had  been  opened  to  the  South. 

That  the  ports  of  the  South  were  blockaded,  as  Mr.  Gush 
ing  said  they  would  be,  was  true ;  but  never  before  had 
steam  vessels  been  employed  by  a  vigilant  enemy  to  search 
out  the  weak  intervals  in  the  line  and  avail  himself  of  dark 
ness  and  even  storm,  to  enter  and  leave  blockaded  harbors. 
In  spite  of  large  squadrons,  under  command  of  competent 
and  zealous  officers,  enough  war  material  was  carried  into 
ports  of  the  Confederate  States  to  enable  them,  for  three 
years,  to  contend  vigorously  against  all  the  armies  the  United 
States  could  collect,  not  only  from  its  own  population,  but 
from  all  the  countries  of  Europe. 

Well  may  the  people  of  the  Northern  portion  of  the  recon 
structed  Union  be  proud  of  their  fellows,  who  for  four  long 
years  contended  against  such  fearful  odds. 

The  fourth  year  of  the  war  saw  an  end  of  the  struggle,  not 
only  because  of  the  immense  superiority  of  the  North  in  men 
and  material,  but  also  on  account  of  a  change  of  policy  in 
procuring  supplies.  For  a  long  time  there  were  no  contractors 


28 

between  the  European  sources  of  supply  and  the  great  con 
sumer,  the  army.  Cotton,  the  only  article  of  value  to  the 
outside  world,  passed  into  possession  of  the  Government  con 
tinuously  and  without  friction,  and  was  landed  in  Nassau  — 
exceptionally  in  Bermuda  —  with  no  back  charges  due. 
Every  shilling  that  a  bale  was  worth,  as  it  lay  at  the  landing- 
place,  was  so  much  to  the  credit  of  the  War  or  Navy  Depart 
ment  with  Fraser,  Trenholm  &  Co.,  Liverpool,  and  was  avail 
able  as  soon  as  the  arrival  was  announced  by  mail  via  New 
York.  There  were  literally  no  leaks.  More  devoted  or  more 
intelligent  and  trustworthy  agents  than  were  Fraser,  Tren 
holm  &  Co.,  during  the  four  years  in  which  they  acted  for 
the  Richmond  Government,  never  served  any  principal. 

But  in  the  latter  stages  of  the  war,  contracts  with  the  Gov 
ernment  began  to  appear.  These  contracts,  made  in  Rich 
mond,  were  generally  a  sort  of  partnership  affair  by  which  the 
contractor,  usually  an  English  company,  shared  equally  the 
freighting  capacity  of  each  blockade  runner.  A  representative 
of  one  of  these  companies  brought  to  me,  one  day,  a  draft  on 
myself  for  a  large  sum  in  sterling  —  I  think  it  was  £10,000, 
but  this  may  not  be  the  exact  sum.  What  to  do  with  it  was 
a  difficult  problem.  The  payee,  a  respectable  merchant  of 
Richmond,  presented  it  in  person,  and  there  was  no  doubt  of 
its  genuineness.  After  considering  the  matter  a  few  minutes, 
I  said: 

"  I  can't  pay  this,  Captain  C ." 

"  What ! "  he  said,  "  Repudiate  the  draft  of  Colonel  Gor- 


"  Can't  help  it ;  I  cannot  and  shall  not  honor  it.  I  need 
much  more  money  than  I  have  received,  to  pay  for  what  has 
gone  forward,  and  I  have  large  contracts  out  for  supplies." 

"  I  will  assume  your  contracts,"  he  replied. 

"  But  I  will  not  assign  them  to  you." 

Here  was  a  collision  between  officer  and  Government  con 
tractor,  which  might  result  in  the  professional  ruin  of  the 
officer ;  for  the  draft  was  an  order  from  his  superior.  Al 
though  a  good  many  rough  words  were  interchanged,  I  stood 


29 

my  ground  and  did  not  pay  the  draft.  I  read  between  the 
lines  of  Col.  Gorgas's  letters  that  he  would  stand  by  me,  and 
he  did.  The  draft  was  undoubtedly  made  by  higher  authority 
—  probably  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Seddon  —  who  at  the 
time  had  not  been  long  in  office,  while  Col.  Gorgas  had  served 
from  the  organization  of  the  Confederate  Government  in 
Montgomery.  I  never  heard  anything  more  about  the  re 
pudiated  draft,  and,  not  long  after,  I  was  informed  that,  at 
the  request  of  the  War  Department,  I  had  been  advanced  to 
the  grade  of  Major. 

In  this  connection  I  may  mention  an  incident  that  occurred 
somewhat  later.  Mr.  Yancey  had  returned  to  Richmond,  and 
Mr.  James  H.  Mason  had  taken  his  place  as  Commissioner. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  two  men  more  opposite  in 
character,  discharging  the  same  functions.  Mr.  Yancey  was 
a  much  younger  man,  and  had  been  a  student  at  Williams 
College,  Massachusetts.  He  had  represented  Alabama  in  the 
United  States  Congress,  and  was  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
affairs  in  general  to  hold  his  own  in  almost  any  company. 
His  voice  and  manners  were  pleasing,  and  his  estimate  of 
himself  was  sufficiently  modest  to  make  him  an  appreciative 
listener.  I  never  heard  him  address  an  audience  but  once, 
but  that  once  convinced  me  he  was  a  born  orator.  It  was  at 
a  Fishmongers'  Guild  dinner,  and  the  few  representatives  of 
the  Confederate  States  were  the  guests  of  the  evening.  Mr. 
Yancey  sat  on  the  left  of  the  Lord  Warden.  I  sat  four  or 
five  seats  from  him,  on  the  opposite  side,  the  tables  being 
arranged  in  the  form  of  a  horse  shoe.  There  was  a  large 
number  present,  and  many  were  evidently  Americans  from 
the  North. 

Very  early  in  the  list  of  toasts,  the  toastmaster,  —  a  butler 
possessed  of  a  ringing  voice,  and  who  stood  just  behind  the 
chair  of  the  Lord  Warden,  from  whom  he  received  his  orders 
—  called  out: 

"  Gentlemen,  fill  your  glah-  ses,  the  Lord  Warden  will  take 
wine  with  you." 


30 

The  glasses  being  filled,  the  toast  was  announced.  I  do 
not  now  recall  the  words,  but  it  had  reference  to  the  "  new 
nation,"  and  to  Hon.  William  L.  Yancey,  and  "  our  guests 
from  the  Confederate  States  of  America."  The  Lord  Warden 
made  a  short  address  of  welcome  and  called  on  Mr.  Yancey. 
All  the  Confederate  guests  were  expected  to  stand  while 
their  spokesman  replied.  But  I  declined  to  make  myself  so 
conspicuous,  fearing  that  in  a  company  so  entirely  new  to 
Mr.  Yancey,  as  I  felt  sure  this  English  company  was,  his 
speech  would  be  anything  but  appropriate. 

I  could  not  have  been  more  in  error.  What  he  said  ex 
actly  fitted  the  place  and  the  occasion;  the  audience  was 
delighted,  except  some  people  at  the  lower  ends  of  the  tables, 
who,  by  rattling  their  glasses  and  moving  their  feet,  did  their 
best  to  disconcert  the  speaker.  In  this  they  failed.  The 
speech  was  short,  and  at  its  conclusion  the  storm  of  applause 
clearly  showed  the  pleasure  it  afforded  the  great  majority  of 
the  audience.  I  remember  well  a  barrister  —  a  member  of 
the  city  government  —  who  after  the  dinner  was  over,  com 
mented  enthusiastically  on  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Yancey. 

Mr.  Mason  was  a  very  different  man.  He  had,  for  forty 
years  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  seemed  never  to  be  unmindful  of  the  presence  and  impor 
tance  of  the  Honorable  James  H.  Mason  of  Virginia.  The 
two  Commissioners  were  as  different,  one  from  the  other,  as 
a  Kentuckian  and  a  Boston  man  of  pilgrim  blood.  I  saw  but 
little  of  Mr.  Mason.  Mr.  Yancey  had  always  been  ready  to 
confer  with  me.  I  freely  talked  over  my  plans  with  him,  and 
by  his  counsel  and  cordial  endeavor  to  aid  me,  he  was  an 
ever  present  help. 

There  was  in  Mr.  Mason  no  magnetism  to  attract  young 
men,  and  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  asked  his  advice 
or  opinion.  In  this  he  presented  a  strong  contrast  to  all  the 
other  Commissioners.  Mr.  Slidell  was  as  old  a  man  and  as 
experienced  in  public  affairs  as  Mr.  Mason,  but  he  was  a 
genial  companion  even  to  younger  men,  and  I  consulted  him 
quite  as  freely  as  I  had  Mr.  Yancey. 


31 

One  morning  I  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Mason's  secretary, 
asking  me  to  call  at  Mr.  Mason's  lodgings.  I  lost  no  time  in 
obeying  the  summons,  and  Mr.  Mason  lost  no  time  in  coming 
to  business. 

"  Major,"  he  said,  "  I  have  sent  for  you  to  request  you  to 
inspect  some  army  supplies  that  some  of  our  English  friends 
are  sending  over  under  a  contract  with  the  War  Depart 
ment." 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  I  replied,  "  Mr.  Mason,  I 
will  inspect  the  contract,  and  if  I  approve  it,  I  will  inspect 
the  goods." 

I  cannot  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  man's  astonish 
ment.  It  was  too  great  for  him  to  express  himself  imme 
diately.  He  was  standing  in  front  of  the  grate.  Taking  a 
package  of  "  fine-cut "  from  his  pocket,  and  removing  from 
his  mouth  an  immense  quid  which  he  threw  into  the  grate, 
he  replaced  it  with  a  fresh  wad  and,  looking  at  me,  said,  "  Do 
you  know  who  I  am?  Whom  do  you  look  upon  as  your 
superiors?" 

Instantly,  but  very  quietly,  I  replied,  *'  I  believe  you  are 
the  Honorable  James  M.  Mason,  Confederate  States  Com 
missioner  to  England." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  and  in  a  very  few  days  I  shall  be  Min 
ister  of  the  Confederate  States  to  the  Court  of  St.  James." 
It  was  when  England,  France  and  Spain  were  on  the  point  of 
acknowledging  the  Confederate  States  of  America  as  a 
nation. 

I  then  said,  "  I  acknowledge  no  superior  on  this  side  of  the 
ocean ;  in  America  the  Secretary  of  War  and  all  officers  senior 
to  me  are  my  superiors,  and  especially  Col.  Gorgas,  from 
whom  I  receive  my  orders.  Not  only  on  general  principles 
can  I  take  no  orders  from  you,  but  I  have  an  order  sent  me 
after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  giving  me  carte  blanche,  and 
directing  me  not  to  allow  myself  to  be  governed  by  political 
emissaries  of  the  Government.  Now,  if  you  are  not  a  politi 
cal  emissary  of  the  Government  I  don't  know  what  you  are." 

There  was  no  possible  answer  to  this  defining  of  our  rela 
tive  positions  and  there  was  no  more  controversy.  The  dis- 


32 

pute  lasted  some  time,  but  I  have  related  enough  to  answer 
my  purpose. 

The  order  to  which  I  referred  was  sewed  into  the  sole  of  a 
boot,  the  wearer  of  which,  a  German  by  birth,  made  the  jour 
ney  from  Richmond  to  London  by  way  of  New  York.  On 
arriving  in  London  the  order  was  removed  from  its  hiding 
place  by  cutting  the  stitches  of  the  sole.  The  incident  serves 
to  show  the  impossibility  of  preventing  secret  correspondence 
in  time  of  war. 

Another  incident  of  the  same  character  may  be  mentioned. 
The  first  vessel  to  run  the  blockade  from  England  was  the 
"  Fingal,"  Commander  James  D.  Bulloch.  It  was  necessary 
to  send  to  Savannah,  the  port  for  which  Commander  Bulloch 
intended  to  strike,  a  set  of  signals  in  advance.  These  were 
secreted  by  removing  the  wrapper  of  a  well-made  cigar  and 
carefully  replacing  it,  after  rolling  the  paper  containing  the 
signals  upon  its  body.  I  myself  did  this  bit  of  cigar  work. 
On  arriving  off  Savannah,  Commander  Bulloch  displayed  his 
signals,  which  were  immediately  answered,  and  he  piloted  his 
ship  into  the  harbor  with  which  he  was  familiar.  So  long  as 
the  War  Department  depended  entirely  on  its  own  officers  to 
get  cotton  out  and  run  supplies  in,  the  value  of  every  bale  of 
cotton  that  reached  the  Islands  secured,  in  due  time,  its  full 
equivalent  in  army  supplies.  There  were  some  captures  of 
cotton  going  out,  and  others  of  supplies  going  in,  but  the 
losses  were  for  a  long  time  inconsiderable.  When,  how 
ever,  the  contract  system  got  into  full  working  condition,  al 
though  there  were  more  vessels  in  the  service,  the  supplies 
began  to  shrink.  Contractors  were  "on  the  make."  That 
was  their  business,  and  they  pursued  it  eagerly,  for  the  profits 
were  large. 

The  "Nashville,"  which  had  been  a  packet  between  New 
York  and  Charleston,  was  purchased  by  the  C.  S.  Govern 
ment  and  converted  into  a  cruiser,  and  as  it  was  very  desira 
ble  that  there  should  be  some  show  of  naval  power  in  a 
European  port,  she  was  sent  under  command  of  Captain 
Pegram  to  Southampton,  where  she  arrived  in  good  order. 
On  reading  the  news  of  her  arrival,  I  went  immediately  to 


33 

Southampton  to  call  on  her  officers,  with  Mr.  Fearn,  secretary 
to  Mr.  Yancey.  The  ship  was,  like  all  American  ships,  trim 
and  in  beautiful  condition,  but  she  was  only  a  converted 
passenger  ship,  and  must  have  made  a  poor  showing  had  she 
met  a  U.  S.  ship  of  any  size.  However,  she  served  the  pur 
pose  of  displaying  the  Confederate  States  flag  in  a  foreign 
port  and  on  the  high  seas. 

My  object  in  calling  on  Captain  Pegrani  was  not  one  of 
courtesy  alone.  A  most  outrageous  proposal  had  been  made 
to  me,  involving  the  capture  of  a  British  ship  bound  from 
Hamburg  to  New  York,  loaded  with  a  hundred  thousand  Aus 
trian  rifles.  The  proposal,  in  brief,  was :  That  I  should 
deposit  £10,000  in  the  Bank  of  England  subject  to  the  draft 
of  one  of  two  persons.  In  the  event  of  success  of  the  scheme, 
one  was  to  draw  the  money ;  in  case  of  failure,  the  other. 
The  plan  was  to  capture  a  British  ship,  then  loading  with 
arms  at  Hamburg  for  New  York.  It  had  been  proposed  to 
me  that  with  a  tug,  having  a  gun  on  board,  I  should  intercept 
the  ship,  fire  a  gun,  and  demand  her  surrender.  The  captain 
would  have  orders  to  comply  with  my  demand,  and  I  was  to 
direct  him  to  sail  to  Charleston. 

The  scheme  was  not  impossible  for  any  one  holding  a  pri 
vateer's  commission,  and  I  applied  to  Mr.  Yancey  for  a  letter- 
of-marque.  On  hearing  my  story,  Mr.  Yancey  said  he  had 
such  commissions,  but  that  they  were  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  and  he  had  determined  not  to  give  any  of  them 
out.  However,  in  this  instance,  he  would  issue-  one  if  I 
wanted  it.  I  believed  my  land-service  commission  would 
protect  me,  but  I  asked  for  the  letter-of-marque  as  an  addi 
tional  safeguard.  Captain  Pegram,  after  considering  the 
matter  in  conference  with  his  executive,  Lieutenant  Fauntle- 
roy  (formerly  of  the  United  States  Navy),  determined  not  to 
make  the  attempt,  and  the  matter  was  dropped. 

Perhaps  it  is  well  that  the  "  Nashville  "  arrived,  and  that 
Captain  Pegram  declined  to  act ;  for  I  had  the  money  ready 
to  deposit,  and  what  seems  now  to  me  a  madcap  scheme  might 
have  been  attempted. 


34 

The  ship  sailed,  and  delivered  her  cargo  in  New  York.  The 
projectors  of  the  scheme  stood  to  receive  double  payment  for 
the  arms  and  ship,  the  insurance  against  war-risk  having  been 
assumed  by  the  U.  S.  War  Department.  The  arms  were 
from  the  Vienna  arsenal,  from  which  I  received,  later,  the 
same  number  of  small  arms  and  several  batteries  of  field 
artillery. 

At  the  time  the  "Nashville"  arrived  in  Southampton,  I 
had  a  large  quantity  of  supplies  ready  for  shipment,  but  was 
deterred  by  the  endeavors  of  agents  of  the  United  States 
Government  to  stop  me.  The  problem  was  finally  solved  by 
a  hint  from  the  British  authorities  to  clear  them  for  Aus 
tralia,  which  was  done.  The  shipment  was  made  on  the 
steamer  "  Economist,"  bought  for  the  expedition,  and  Lieut. 
Fauntleroy  was  detached  from  the  "  Nashville  "  to  command 
her;  of  course  a  British  captain  in  nominal  command.  Al 
though  the  "  Economist "  had  speed  of  not  more  than  eight 
knots  an  hour,  Lieut.  Fauntleroy  made  a  successful  run  into 
Charleston  and  delivered  his  cargo  in  excellent  condition. 

An  incident  worth  relating  is  connected  with  this  period 
of  the  war.  A  ship  which  Lieut.  Fauntleroy  and  I  visited 
one  morning  was  loading  in  London  Docks  for  Nassau.  In 
the  same  dock  were  two  very  handsome  steamers  which  had 
been  built  for  the  opium  trade,  but  for  some  reason  had  not 
sailed  for  China.  They  were  now  for  sale.  Lieut.  Fauntle 
roy,  after  examining  them,  was  most  eager  that  I  should  buy 
one  and  put  him  in  command.  To  do  so,  however,  was  im 
possible  ;  I  had  no  money.  Several  months  afterwards  I  was 
asked  to  buy  a  steamer  and  her  cargo  of  arms,  clothing,  shoes, 
ammunition  and  medicines,  then  lying  at  St.  George's,  Ber 
muda.  The  ship  was  one  of  the  two  opium  smugglers.  She 
had  been  bought  by  a  company  of  Englishmen,  and,  loaded 
with  a  most  desirable  cargo,  had  started  for  Wilmington  or 
Charleston.  On  arriving  at  Bermuda  the  blockade  had  be 
come  so  close  that  the  owners  decided  not  to  make  the  attempt 
to  run  it,  and  they  offered  to  sell  ship  and  cargo  to  me  at  a 
bargain.  I  was  still  unable  to  buy  her,  although  I  knew 
what  a  valuable  blockade-runner  she  would  be  and  what  a 


35 

desirable  cargo  she  carried.  The  owners,  of  whom  there  were 
several,  were  so  anxious  to  sell  her  that  they  importuned  me 
till  finally  I  said :  "  Well,  gentlemen,  I  can  do  one  thing :  I 
can  offer  you  cotton  for  your  ship  and  cargo."  They  jumped 
at  the  proposal,  saying  that  was  all  they  wanted.  Where 
would  I  deliver  the  cotton  ? 

At  Charleston,  Mobile  or  Wilmington. 

When? 

Thirty  days  after  the  presentation  of  my  order  to  the  War 
Department  in  Richmond. 

Strange  as  it  may  read,  these  men  were  perfectly  satisfied 
with  my  proposition,  although  I  could  not  see  how  they  were 
to  get  their  cotton  out,  since  they  were  selling  their  ship  to 
me.  However,  we  agreed  upon  the  weight  and  quality  of 
cotton  to  be  given  for  ship  and  cargo,  and  it  only  remained 
for  me  to  satisfy  their  lawyer  that  I  was  duly  authorized  to 
make  the  purchase.  For  this  purpose,  a  meeting  was  arranged 
for  the  next  morning,  when  I  presented  the  leather-stained 
order  which  had  come  to  me  through  the  lines,  sewed  between 
the  layers  of  the  sole  of  a  shoe.  On  reading  this,  the  lawyer 
said  :  "  That's  enough  to  cover  anything,"  and  a  contract  was 
signed  and  an  order  given  me  for  the  ship  and  cargo.  As 
this  contract  may  interest  the  reader,  a  facsimile  of  it  is 
given.  (See  plate.) 

The  quantity  of  cotton  being  too  large  for  one  owner  to 
handle,  it  was  arranged  to  have  warrants  engraved  and  printed 
for  smaller  quantities. 

The  "  Merrimac  "  ran  into  Wilmington  and  delivered  her 
valuable  cargo  in  fine  order.  She  was  then  loaded  with  cot 
ton,  and  one  favorable  night  —  dark  and  stormy  —  started  on 
her  return  trip  to  the  Islands.  Before  clearing  the  harbor  she 
collided  with  another  steamer  on  her  way  in,  and  the  "  Mer 
rimac  "  was  obliged  to  return  to  Wilmington,  where  it  was 
found  that  she  could  not  be  repaired,  and  she  was  finally 
sold,  with  her  cargo,  for  f  1 ,100,000.  The  vessel  with  which 
she  collided  was  her  sister  ship  which  had  lain  alongside  of 
her  in  London  Docks.  Means  were  not  to  be  found  in  Wil 
mington  to  repair  the  "  Merrimac  "  for  the  Confederate  Gov- 


36 


ernment ;  but  it  was  easily  accomplished  as  soon  as  she  passed 
into  private  hands,  and  she  was  again  sent  to  make  her  run 
to  the  Islands.  To  my  great  satisfaction,  she  was  captured 
the  next  morning. 

There  were  greedy  contractors  in  the  South  who  cared 
just  as  much  for  "  the  cause  "  as  did  their  fellow-contractors 
in  the  North  for  the  Union.  They  were  full  of  patriotism  — 
of  their  kind.  Months  after  the  "  Merrimac "  sailed  from 
Bermuda,  one  of  the  negotiators  of  the  sale  asked  me  if  I 
would  sign  duplicates  of  the  warrants  I  had  issued.  My 
reply  was :  "  Does  the  Bank  of  England  issue  duplicate 
notes?"  "You  don't  mean  to  say  you  will  not  give  us 
duplicates !  "  "1  certainly  do."  And  then  I  explained  to 
him  that  at  the  time,  I  might  have  been  willing  to  sign  war 
rants  in  duplicate.  But  the  war  had  reached  a  critical  stage  ; 
the  Confederate  army  was  hard  pressed  on  every  side.  More 
over,  the  contract  system  had  begun  to  produce  results.  In 
stead  of  all  cotton  sent  out  being  for  army  or  navy  account, 
only  a  portion  of  the  army  cotton  was  turned  into  army 
supplies.  The  contractors,  English  and  Confederate,  were 
taking  the  rest. 

I  believe  that  not  one  of  those  cotton  warrants  which 
bought  the  "  Merrimac "  was  ever  presented  in  Richmond, 
and  that  vessel,  with  her  cargo,  cost  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment  literally  nothing.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  these 
same  cotton  warrants,  which  as  it  proved  were  really  not 
worth  the  cost  of  printing  them,  at  one  time  sold  at  a  premium 
in  London. 


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